


Looking for a Sign: Part 1

by Pmzilla



Series: Looking Beyond the Horizon [2]
Category: Looking (TV)
Genre: M/M, lover's spat, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 05:44:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7745485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pmzilla/pseuds/Pmzilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick is avoiding Texas. Richie has jealousy issues. Owen brings food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking for a Sign: Part 1

"Yeah, I know. I know-and I wish I could come out too, but month end is our deadline. I can't have my first new game release fucked up, no matter how much I miss you."  
"....."  
"I can send you a ticket, that's not a problem - but I'm going to be buried at least until this weekend."  
"...."  
"Richie, ok-or not..."(Owen enters, bearing Thai food in white paper boxes)  
"yeah,....yeah. Ok. Miss you. Bye! (Hangs up) Jesus! Is this the pad Thai? Feed me, I'm starving. "

"I take it that was Richie?", Owen says.

Patrick answers with a face full of food, "Yeah, yes. Yes, it was."

"You know, if we are in reasonable shape on Friday, there should be no reason why you can't..."

"I know, Owen - but I'm not loving the whole level 23 sequence, even after it was rendered. "

"I can work with Jimmy.."

"No. I won't leave you holding the bag on our first release. Richie understands."

"Yeah, sure sounded like it. Why doesn't he just come here?"

Patrick doesn’t meet Owen’s eyes, poking at his pad Thai. "Well, Saturday is his busy day anyway...did you get dumplings? I love dumplings!"

"You wanna eat my dumplings?"

"Only if you don't want them. "

"No, I want them. I ordered them. They're mine. (Pause) how long since you've seen Richie?"

"Ah...a few weeks?"

"I think it's longer than that. Did something happen with you guys last time you were out there? It's sort of implausible that Richie doesn't mind at all."

Patrick sighs, Owen isn’t going to let this go or change the subject. "Nothing happened. Well, nothing specific - it's Texas. We are fine when we are on our own, behind closed doors… But who can live like that?”

“What does Richie have to say about it?”

Patrick pauses eating, “Nothing. I tried to talk with him about it, but,....he just said...nothing.”

“Well, he's a ‘man of few words’ type. So, he's ok with you staying away so long?”

“I think so. I offered to send him a ticket to come here, but...he wasn't interested."

"Well, I could have told you that would go over like a lead balloon."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. He's a great guy but he's kinda macho. You really think he'd let you pay?"

"Hmmmm"

Richie is in his fourth week without seeing Pato. Since they got back together at Agustin's wedding, they have never been apart for this long. Patrick left El Paso the morning after that night of epic sex that made Richie feel more connected to Patrick than he had in some time. He was supposed to return to El Paso in a week, but on that Thursday, Patrick said that he was on a deadline and needed to cancel spending the week working from Texas, as they planned. At the end of that week, it materialized that the actual deadline was not for another two weeks time. Now, with the supposed deadline mere days away, Patrick still wouldn't make any firm plans to come to Texas.  
At first, Richie was disappointed, not suspicious. After the deadline changed, suspicion started to creep in. He started checking Patrick's Facebook feed, looking for checkins. He also started cruising Owen's feed, noticing that Patrick's designer didn't seem to be exactly chained to his desk.  
Richie is often painted as a plaster saint, but he is human and has his flaws, notable among them: his pride, and where Patrick is concerned - jealousy too. Today - he called Patrick, and again, Patrick said he couldn't leave... Then offered to buy him a ticket, but also said, essentially, 'don't come'. Richie's temper flared. Was Patrick implying that Richie couldn't afford the ticket? Moreover, what was holding Patrick in San Francisco? Because Richie was starting to think it wasn't just his deadline.  
Richie was sitting on his couch after work on Thursday, nursing a beer. He'd been turning things over in his mind, and jealousy, which crept in earlier, sat in his chest and grew. By Friday, he had spun a thousand scenarios, one more awful than the next, of Patrick cheating on him, leaving him...or worse. By the end of the day, he had cleared Saturday's appointments and booked a ticket to SF. 

It's Saturday afternoon - Richie enters Patrick's SF apartment where we see little evidence of Richie. It's clear he's never there. No sign of Patrick either. Richie drops his bag and sits on the couch. An hour or so passes, still no Patrick. Richie paces the living room, showing evidence of his temper thinning. He picks up the bag and walks out the door. 

Scene: MDG office, Evening - Around 6/7PM.  
Patrick and Jimmy are huddled over a computer.  
Jimmy is fretting over the designs for level 23, his first big project at MDG, “Patrick, it still looks like crap!”  
“No, Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy - it truly does not - and it will be even better when it is full rendered. But- more importantly, it’s PLAYING smoothly. That’s what was missing before - and look! You did it!”  
“You really think it’s good?” Jimmy, who is seated, leans his chair back into Patrick, looking up at him.  
“I genuinely think it’s ready - so be proud!” Patrick absentmindedly pats Jimmy on the shoulder.  
“You totally saved me on this one. You’re a good teacher, too.” Jimmy may have a bit of a teacher crush, but Patrick isn’t biting.  
“No - this is all you.” Jimmy turns in his chair towards Patrick, when Richie walks in.

“Pato? What’s this?”

“Richie!” Patrick is surprised, but pleased to see his boyfriend. His smile falters when he looks at Richie’s face - which is dark as a thundercloud.

“What’s going on here?”

“Work, ...work is what is going on here - it is my office.” Patrick frowns.

“Well. There was a time when that wasn’t a given. Especially after-hours, and alone with somebody you…”

Owen walks in, staring at his iPhone “So - no Thai leftovers, we can order from...oh, hey - Richie.” Owen glances from Patrick to Richie then to Jimmy and he quickly takes the measure of the situation. “Well - since we are all done, and looks like you have a surprise visitor...Jimmy - tacos? Great to see you again, Richie - you should come out this way more, man.” Owen and Jimmy grab bags and leave Richie and Patrick to their stand-off.

Patrick barely acknowledges his coworkers’ departure; Richie’s last comment infuriates him. As soon as they are alone, Patrick continues in a deceptively reasonable tone. “So,....what? Maybe you think we were having a three-way? That I decided to flip Owen?”

“Pato…”

“No! You do NOT...don’t ‘Pato’ me.”, angry tears well in Patrick’s eyes, “What did you think you were busting up? You trust me so little that you think I’m going to fuck whatever gay code jockey I can entrap here? Fuck you.”

Owen’s appearance had mollified Richie, even made him feel sort-of-penitent, briefly. But Richie’s towering-inferno-of-Latin-rage roared back in a second, “Well? You can’t say it never happened before.”

“You bastard, that is a low-blow. I am not Kevin, victimizing employees.”

“How I am supposed to know that? A lot can change in a month.”

“THREE weeks, and I can’t help that I have a deadline. It’s you who wanted this arrangement - a life in exile in El Paso. I offered to send you a ticket…”

“I don’t need f-cking charity from you! And YOU were the one who said ‘Well, why don’t I come to Texas?’ - or wasn’t that you?.”

“And YOU told me not to sacrifice my career if I didn’t have to. I HAVE come to Texas. I am CONSTANTLY flying to fucking El Paso, working on cafe wifi and going out with my boyfriend - slash - roommate,...”

“Patrick…we discussed my fucking uncle, I thought we were past that.”

“No, Richie. I tried to discuss it, and you sang me a line from that song and we fucked. ‘Past that’ requires actually dealing with 'that'.”

“Well it sure as hell hasn’t come up when we talk, and we talk every day. But on that tip - is that what this is? Am I just the guy you fuck? Not the person you share your life with, not the person you love?”

“Loving you is NOT the problem...I love you so much it feels like my chest is going to explode when you walk through the door. YOU are what I want…. But, El Paso?...going back into the closet..being your fucking roommate? I don’t want ANY of that."

“And you think that I do?"

“Well then what DO you want? What IS El Paso for you, because it's making me miserable?”

"I can’t do this.”, Richie, hand over his face, starts to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go.”

“Wait - don’t be ridiculous, where are you going to go? Come home.”

“No - I just….I need to be alone. I’ll call you.”, Richie picks up his bag, turns to face Patrick for one moment, as though he couldn’t tear himself away, but he does.

Patrick is alone, in tears, sitting on a desk when his phone pings with a text message from Agustin.


End file.
